Many types of information and content are now stored digitally, including books, music, movies, software programs, video games, databases, advertisements, as well as other content.
Because such content is stored digitally, it can be transferred easily using many types of electronic networks. See, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,875,110, 4,412,292, 5,848,398, 6,397,189, 6,381,575, 4,674,055, 5,445,295, 5,734,719, 6,286,029, 6,799,165, 6,655,580, 6,330,490, 6,662,080, 6,535,791, 6,711,464, 5,237,157, 6,654,757, 5,794,217, and 6,748,539. Both private and public electronic networks, including the Internet, are frequently used to transfer the digital content.
Often the digital content is transferred electronically so that it can be sold to a user who is not located where the digital content is originally stored. The digital content can be sold for a variety of purposes, including education, entertainment, research, or other purposes. The digital content may be sold in any number of technological formats known in the art that permit storage and retrieval of the digital data, including floppy discs, compact discs (CDs) of several varieties; video discs of several varieties, including digital video discs (DVDs); magnetic storage devices using a variety of forms and technologies; and solid state devices of several varieties.
Most digital content sales have been to users of computers that are connected to each other via electronic networks of various types, e.g., the Internet. However, users are not always located at such a computer when they desire to purchase the digital content, or they have a computer but it is not connected to such a network. Consequently, sales (including rentals) of digital content have begun using devices in remote locations, including stand-alone devices (such as kiosks) in retail or other high-traffic areas. The stand-alone devices may be attended or unattended.